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Therese Raquin

by Èmile Zola Adapted by Nona Shepphard Music by Craig Adams Book & Lyrics by Nona Shepphard

“Visceral, darkly imaginative… Craig Adams's complex, eloquent score pulls you in with the bold unpredictability of its questing melodic lines and twisted harmonic textures.”
★ ★ ★ ★ Independent

"Good Lord! Will Park Theatre ever stage a bad show? If the latest offering of Theatre Bench’s new adaptation of Emile Zola’s turn-of-the-century classic, Thérése Raquin is anything to go by, probably not. A dark and pulsating musical set in Victorian Paris, the show follows the repressed Thérése as she breaks out from her dull little life and embarks on a passionate affair that eventually leads to her downfall."

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ West End Wilma

A startling new musical adaptation of the classic French novel Thérèse Raquin...

★ ★ ★ ★ Evening standard       ★ ★ ★ ★ Independent

★ ★ ★ ★ Daily Telegraph          ★ ★ ★ ★ Broadway Baby

★ ★ ★ ★ West End Frame        ★ ★ ★ ★ Everything Theatre 

 

1860s Paris. In a small dusty haberdasher’s shop near the Seine in the dank, narrow Passage du Pont Neuf, the young and beautiful Thérèse Raquin is trapped in a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin, Camille. While her husband is out all day working, Thérèse spends her days confined behind the counter of a small shop and - every Thursday evening - watching her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin, play dominoes with an eclectic group of ne'er-do-wells. Until the Thursday evening that her husband Camille brings an old friend to the party – the alluring Laurent – and she embarks on an illicit affair that leads Thérèse to abandon all her inhibitions and loyalties as their brutal and overwhelming passion overturns both their lives and has results that nobody could have foreseen... In keeping with the innovative and challenging nature of the original work, this radical new musical adaptation uses music and lyrics to heighten and distil the underlying themes, featuring a company of twelve actors playing the main roles of Thérèse, Laurent, Camille and Madame Raquin, as well as their Thursday night domino playing companions and a watchful and distrustful chorus.

“An intense and accomplished take on Emile Zola’s tightly wound 1867 novel of adultery and damnation in Paris.”
★ ★ ★ ★ Evening Standard 

[Photography by Darren Bell]

Q&A Event
There will be a Post Show Q&A with the director & cast on Thursday 7th August. Admission is free with a valid ticket for the performance that evening.  

NB: Latecomers will not be admitted – and there is no admittance or re-admittance to the auditorium whilst the performance is in progress.